GALLERY: UFO sightings reported across Mountain West region

(KUTV) — Reports of UFO sightings were popping up across the Mountain West region between Tuesday and Thursday.

Many residents of Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, as well as their neighboring states, expressed confusion over the two beams of light that have become exceptionally visible in the night sky recently. As a result, witnesses have been trying to explain the unexplainable.

One after another, guesses as to what the light beams were began to surface, with one term proving to be widespread among reports: UFO.

Though the situation was largely speculated as an extraterrestrial visit, science revealed it to be more astronomical.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Jupiter and Venus aligned in a rare conjunction on the night of March 1, where Venus began passing Jupiter as both planets were making their way around the sun.

NASA officials stated that this annual conjunction marked the point in which Venus and Jupiter were nearest to each other, which explains why they appear to be in such close proximity.

As the planets continue to orbit, they will eventually begin to drift and separate.

Meanwhile, in January, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence noted that the US government has received 366 new reports of "unidentified aerial phenomena" -- commonly known as UFOs or unidentified flying objects -- since March 2021.

An 11-page document noted that about half the sightings remain unexplained.

The new sightings are in addition to 144 reports during the previous 17 years, bringing the total to 510.

According to the report, "initial analysis and characterization of the 366 newly-identified reports, informed by a multi-agency process, judged more than half as exhibiting unremarkable characteristics."

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The National Desk's Jessica A. Botelho contributed to this report.